Monday, April 16, 2007

Learning new things everyday: Tanuki Udon, etc!

I've been randomly surfing for the past half hour, and I came upon this particular article which discussed certain types of udon. Now, I do know that there are lots of udon types and udon dishes out there, but what piqued my interest the most was the one known as Tanuki Udon. Hehe... and yes, I like the sound of it for obvious reasons, and wouldn't it be cool if the owner of Tanuki no Bento actually learns how to make Tanuki Udon? Haha!! Anyway, moving on...

Besides being a sort-of-namesake for me, descriptions of the dish also make it sound like it's pretty easy to make. According to Japan Travel Guide:

The Tanuki Udon mainly consists of deep-fried and sliced fish sausages known as Naruto. These deep fried Narutos are then placed on the boiled Udon with slivers of leek for added color and flavor. Vegetables can also be sliced and placed atop the Udon for a more healthy variety.

I like the sounds of it since I'm pretty fond of naruto anyway, and I'm pretty sure that anyone who has seen my past entries will see this. Lol. Mmm... fried naruto...

Then, there's the other description which includes the nice, crispy bits left from your tempura dish (again stuff that I love):

Ingredients for Tanuki Udon:

* Naruto * Tenkatsu: crispy pieces that are left when deep frying tenpura. If not available, you can cut some leek, mix it with tenpura batter and deep fry it. * Leek or green onion

As for how it's supposed to look like (according to various sources...)

Looks simple enough doesn't it? Now if I only knew how to make the most important part of it all: the broth! Lol. I have no idea about the type/brand of sauce that you have to use when making udon. Now I really should get myself a Nintendo DS and a copy of Cooking Mama so that I can find out! XD

Anyway, on a closing note, googling for pictures of the tanuki udon has also brought me this adorable thing from Yamacon...